“We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.”
Ayn Rand (1905–1982) Russian-American novelist and philosopher
Variant: We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality
Source: Beautiful Losers
“We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.”
Ayn Rand (1905–1982) Russian-American novelist and philosopher
Variant: We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality
Michelle Obama (1964) lawyer, writer, wife of Barack Obama and former First Lady of the United States
2000s, A Challenge to Overcome (November 2007)
Epeli Ganilau (1951) Fijian politician
Address to the Pan Pacific HIV/AIDS Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, October 2005
“True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
“Reality, it cannot be repeated too often, varies with every one of us.”
Maurice Barrès (1862–1923) French novelist
Source: Pène du Bois, Henri (1897). Witty, Wise and Wicked Maxims https://archive.org/stream/wittywisewickedm00peneiala#page/n3/mode/2up, New York: Brentano's, p. 88.
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) American fiction writer
Guardian Camwar, in Ch. 4 : the cooper<!-- p. 42 -->
Source: The Visitor (2002)
Context: You asked for wisdom? Hear these words. Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
As quoted in Days with Bernard Shaw (1949) by Stephen Winsten
1940s and later